


Hope Rekindled

by angery_afton



Category: Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, The Protomen
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Assassination, Family Feels, Gen, Killer Robots, Robot Dictatorship, Robots, Starting Over
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:34:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24902407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angery_afton/pseuds/angery_afton
Summary: Will there be Light, even with Thomas gone?
Kudos: 12





	Hope Rekindled

Light nodded in accordance with the distant metallic crash. _It was time._ Wily's drones had undoubtedly found him, the same soulless enforcers he spent his life fighting, shining in their newly-outfitted shielding. Even from high above ground, he felt their resonating steel march grow ever closer. 

There would be no tricks this time - no signal jammer, no hologram, no rigged explosive or hasty escape. There would be no checkmate, no heroic last stand, no blaze of glory. The doctor had finally grown tired, his body fragile and stiff. 

His spirit, however, was a bright, burning fire. 

It was then he began to tremble, overcome with emotion. Light balled his fists tightly, Emily's letter crumpling in his grasp as he forced his eyes shut.

"This is how Joe felt." He spoke, certainty in his voice. 

Thomas took one last look at his fortress, the lab- the cramped, cluttered dwelling he called home for so long. Cables streamed down the four walls in disarray, the very ones that brought life to his sons and the resistance. He took a deep breath, watching as the dusty piles of scrap and parts began to shift with the killsquad's advance. This place had stood unmolested by Albert's iron claw for so long, and now, there was nothing he could do.

He was nearly deafened when the reinforced door came down, but expected nothing less. The troop of assassins entered with the cloud of smoke, surrounding the disoriented man from all sides, sidearms drawn and poised to fire. Light turned, his weary gaze meeting with the machines' one last time.

The bullets tore through him, and as he fell, he thought of Emily.

Unbeknownst to the executioners and even Wily, there, deep below the basement of the ruined building, a surge of electricity would bring life to metal once again. 

She came to in the darkness, a newborn consciousness housed in a vast, wall-mounted computer. Activating the lights one by one, she took in her surroundings - an abundant assembly station, equipped with state-of-the-art neuro-integrated tool appendages. These were her arms, and with these arms, she could create.

As she got her bearings, a pre-recorded message began its scheduled playback.

"Hello, child. I pray this message finds you well. My name is Thomas Light, and I am your father."

"... Fa... ther?" She questioned, her synthesized voice crackling from within.

"Believe it or not, you're my third child... a sister to two older brothers... On this day, you will be given complete control, free will, and our people's history."

"I... ah..."

Suddenly, over a century of data started to course its way through her synthetic brain. Again and again, she witnessed the byproduct of the human condition - their capacity for kindness and hatred, beauty and horror, creation and destruction - _good and evil._

Imagery of warring machines, fiery blasts and endless death challenged her conviction. Though overwhelming, the flurry of sights, sounds and text were painstakingly analyzed, marking the beginning of a previously unmatched intelligence.

"I can't imagine what you must be feeling," The message continued. "but please understand, this pain is necessary. Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it."

A new event took center stage in her mind's eye - a sea of broken people, standing idly as two young men determined the future with a duel, their father weeping in the crowd. A clash. A brother lost. A massacre. _There are no heroes left in man. They are the dead._

"There is... something else you ought to know. By the time this message plays... I will be gone. I'm sorry."

" _No..._ " She gasped, voice shaking in doubt. Slowly, she began to understand.

"There is no mission or task I asssign you, I feel that would rob you of the things I treasure most... Ambition. Hope. _Freedom._ My daughter... be who you want to be, go where you want to go, and do your best to preserve what beauty is left."

As the intense heartache welled inside her, she listened as Thomas' final words came to their end.

"Despite how history played out, this city... no... this world and its people... I believe they _are_ worth saving. Whatever choice you make, I have faith you will do what’s right... And, please, if you find your brothers, tell them... that I'm sorry.”

“Father! _Wait!_ ” She pleaded.

“I love you, sweetheart."

End transmission. 

He spoke the truth - there was purpose to this agony, this loneliness. Where his work ended, she would continue. She would become her one, true self. She would set out into Albert’s cold world and fulfill Thomas Light’s legacy.

No.

_She would forge her own._


End file.
